Cutie Pie
by OriginalPippie
Summary: A girl in school, only known as Cutie Pie, is in trouble and the Sweathogs try to help her.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

As the alarm clock rang, Julie sat up and turned on the nearby lamp. She then looked over at her sleeping husband, before giving him a small shove.

"Gabe." She said, nearly sweetly "Come on, honey, time to get up."

He buried his face beneath his pillow and mumbled. "I don't want to."

Julie turned the alarm off and took the pillow off Gabe's head. "But you have to, honey. You have to get ready for school."

"Call me in sick. I think there's a test today."

"You can't stay home. And you don't have to worry about tests. You're the teacher."

He sat up with a grin. "Oh yeah."

Gabe got out of bed and started getting ready to go to work. As he did this, Julie folded up the pull out bed and then went over to the kitchen area to fix breakfast. Upon his departure from the bathroom, Gabe started telling his wife one of his infamous corny jokes about yet another one of his relatives. After the joke, and a quick breakfast, he headed out the door to start another school day. Just like any other day as he made his journey to the school, he knew his students were once again going to make sure that typical and ordinary were the last words used to describe the experience.

By the time he arrived at his classroom, he was greeted by obnoxious laughter and hijinks from the students. He stepped in the doorway, nearly dreading the experience he surely would have to face. Then, slowly making his way from the door, he walked to the front of his desk. Gaining the attention of the students, he managed to get them to quiet down and take to their seats.

"Excuse me." Gabe said "But I didn't realize I was going to be walking into the monkey house at the zoo." His students looked at him, each attempting to appear serious and ready to learn. "I'm not sure this is any better. Now where are _my _students?"

In order to split the difference, the students took all seriousness away from their appearance. They entered their slacker postures and took away all traces of wanting to learn. Satisfied, yet internally slightly irritated, Gabe then felt easier about starting the class. Nonetheless, the students decided that they were going to do whatever they could to delay this.

Vinnie laughed and looked over at Epstein, knowing exactly what would make the best distraction. "Hey, Epstein! What's with you carrying that girl down the hallway?" A collective grouping of hoots and taunts from the other students followed this question.

"Who? Cutie Pie?" Epstein asked, sitting up and ignoring the others as they quieted down. "Well, see, she twisted her ankle so I was helping her get to her class. What was I supposed to do? Let her limp around?"

"But Epstein." Horshack said, confused. "Don't you always let people limp around?"

"_Guys, _Horshack. Not girls. I never leave an injured girl behind."

"Why Epstein." said Gabe, comically "How chivalrous of you."

"Hey." Epstein grinned slightly "Nobody knows this but Chivalrous is actually one of my middle names. It's tucked in there between Philippo and de Huevos. I just don't make a big deal about it."

Gabe, although amused, knew it was a good time to put on an air of seriousness. "Alright, now let's move on from that and actually do some work now. Everybody get out your books and-" He let the rest of his statement drop abruptly. Then, knowing he may regret it, he let his curiosity get the best of him. "Ok, who's this Cutie Pie?"

Freddie smiled slickly "Oh Cutie Pie? Yeah she's this chick who moved here a few years ago from Michigan. On her first day here she introduced herself to everybody as Cutie Pie." He paused briefly, making his smile scarce. "But ain't nobody knew her real name."

Vinnie, with a dimpled smile, added to the topic. "Yeah, Mr. Kotter, Cutie Pie is the perfect nickname for this girl too. 'Cause that's exactly what she is. She's like this adorable little munchkin with big hair."

Gabe laughed "Well, according to that last description, except for the adorable part, this girl could pass for Epstein."

"You know Mr. Kotter…" Horshack spoke up. "I never thought about that before. Probably because she's so sweet and Epstein… isn't." he finished by entering his laugh.

Rather than seeming offended, Epstein merely nodded in agreement. Gabe then, in an attempt at gaining control of the reigns again, stepped before the class to bring attention back onto him.

"As much fun as this conversation is, boys and girls, it's time to actually do some school work."

After brushing off the general complaints from his students, insisting that they had to at least give the appearance of a class, Gabe went into his lecture. The students continued throughout the class period, however, to try distracting their teacher away from the day's lesson plan. A few times this worked for a moment or two but Gabe managed to maintain control of his class, keeping their concentration on their assignment, much to his and everyone else's surprise. Little did either of them know, this was not going to be the biggest surprise, or most interesting part of the day for the Sweathogs.

By the arrival of lunchtime, the students nearly brought on a food fight protest to yet another disgusting concoction that was served to them. The food fight soon turned mostly to talk once Mr. Woodman entered the cafeteria. They were reminded of the more peaceful and far less messy sit-in protest against liver, causing them to rethink the food fight. Instead, although it was not clear whose hands were in charge of it, some food was thrown at Mr. Woodman. After the messy departure of the vice principal, the students resumed a more civilized lunch break.

A few girls walked by the table which four Sweathogs sat, each of them receiving whistles before invitations to join the boys at the table. Smiling, Rosalie and Vernajean took empty spaces next to Vinnie and Freddie correspondingly. Cutie Pie stood awkwardly next to the table, unsure of where to sit. Slapping Horshack on the arm, Epstein made him leave his seat so the girl could sit there instead. With a grin and quiet 'thank you', Cutie Pie accepted the freshly empty space next to Epstein. As Cutie Pie took her seat, Vinnie smiled and motioned toward her.

"Well if it ain't Buchanan's very own brunette Farrah Fawcett!"

"Brunette Farrah Fawcett?" Cutie Pie scoffed with a grin. "Please, I've been styling my hair this way long before Farrah wound up on TV. So, if anything, she's the blonde me."

This exchange of humorous comments brought on shared laughter amongst the small group at the table. Upon leaving this laughter, the students entered a discussion about the food attack on Mr. Woodman and who was to blame for causing it. Horshack was the first to accuse Epstein of starting the food attack, which Epstein promptly denied by threatening the other student with a shake of his fist. This discussion was soon steered away to a different topic that Vinnie felt needed attention in that moment.

"Alright, pelting Mr. Woodman with food is always fun." He smiled, drawing everyone's attention onto him. "But right now we're experiencing a very rare, although enjoyable, occasion here." He looked at Rosalie and Vernajean. "And I'm glad you girls are here for it too."

"What are you talking about, Vinnie?" Rosalie asked

Vinnie motioned to Cutie Pie "We have someone outside the Sweathogs joining us at our lunch table and she's actually pretty cool."

"Yeah you ain't bad for an honors chick." Said Freddie with a slight grin at Cutie Pie

"Me? Honors?" Cutie Pie laughed. "Come on. I may not be a remedial student, but believe me, I'm nowhere near an honors student."

"Hey didn't you get A's on your report card last semester?" Asked Epstein

"Well yeah but A's don't make someone an honors student. Anyway, I only had two and one was a low one. The rest of my grades were B's and C's. But I had to bust my ass off for those grades."

"Look, Cutie Pie," Vernajean said with a small grin. "You might as well be speakin' in a foreign language to these guys. 'Cause the only way either of them will be seeing B's and C's on their report cards is if they forged them."

"I got a C on my report card once." Said Horshack "But it turned out my teacher forgot to put the minus beside it." He laughed

"When did you get a C minus?" Asked Freddie

"And why didn't you let me cheat off you when you were getting it?" Added Epstein

"Alright, alright," Vinnie said, taking the reins of the conversation. "Putting this grade talk aside, I think this is cause for celebration." They looked at him confused. "I say Cutie Pie is cool enough for us to make her the honorary Sweathog for the rest of the day."

Quickly agreeing with Vinnie, everyone else began to cheer Cutie Pie. Freddie reached across the table to slap a slick low five to her. Blushing with a grin, Cutie Pie then stood up to give a small bow. This prompted the others to cheer her.

"On behalf of non-Sweathogs everywhere, I'd like to thank you for bestowing upon me such an honor. And I promise I won't do anything to disgrace the title of honorary Sweathog while I have it." They all cheered her again as she sat down.

Rosalie laughed before looking at Cutie Pie. "You know, I don't think there's anything you or anyone could possibly do to disgrace the Sweathog name. As much of a badge of honor it is, the name is already disgraced enough." As she laughed, she had the other girls joining her.

Suddenly, Cutie Pie jumped in her seat with a shriek. She looked under the table before kicking something in front of her. Epstein had also looked under the table to see what could have made her react in such a way.

"Horshack!" Epstein exclaimed, causing Horshack to bump his head on the bottom of the table. "What the hell are you doin' down there? Get up here now!"

Horshack sheepishly poked his head out from under the table. "I was just picking up the napkin I dropped. "A small laugh escaped his mouth.

"Dropped napkin my ass!" Cutie Pie exclaimed, offended, while tucking her denim skirt down over her knees.

Rosalie leaned closer to Vernajean and spoke softly to her. "See what I mean by disgrace?"

"Yeah. We're surrounded by idiots and pigs."

Horshack crawled out from under the table, dusting off his clothes. As he sat down, he cowered a little to the look that came from Epstein, warning him against doing something like that again.

"Horshack I'm surprised at you." Vinnie said. "We have an honored guest at our table and you don't know to show enough respect to not look up her skirt? Ain't you learned nothing by bein' around me?"

"Besides, everybody here knows that's not how to get dates." Freddie grinned as he slipped an arm around Vernajean

Epstein grinned "Yeah you gotta save that for during the date." He and Freddie slapped each other a five.

"Now, Horshack, apologize to our guest." Vinnie insisted

Horshack turned and looked apologetically at Cutie Pie. "Sorry Cutie Pie. I won't attempt to look up your skirt no more. Unless we happen to be on a date."

She patted him on the head. "Don't worry 'bout it, kid. Just don't do it again."

"Cutie Pie, I got a question to ax you."

"G'head, Arnold, ax." Cutie Pie said, mimicking the way Horshack spoke.

"How come you got those bruises on your leg?"

She looked away from him with a sense of shame about her. "I don't know what you're talking about, Arnold."

"Hey Horshack," Epstein spoke up in her defense. "Never mind about her bruises or I'll give you some of your own." He said while threateningly shaking a fist at him.

Without protest, Horshack scooted down further on the bench, away from Cutie Pie and Epstein. The threats to Horshack, although, only caused the others to draw their curiosity to the subject before them. They all looked over at Cutie Pie, each showing some degree of concern.

"What bruises, Cutie Pie?" Freddie asked, "First your twisted ankle this morning now bruises on your leg? Somebody been hurting you?"

"Hey listen; if somebody's hurting you around here then we'll take care of it." Vinnie said, jumping on Freddie's concern. "We can loan Epstein out to you for your personal bodyguard."

"Well then he'll have to follow me home to be my bodyguard. 'Cause the person who hurt me isn't around here."

Confusion mixed in with their silence as they all looked at her. Feeling the sheer awkwardness, the other students did not have a clue what to say to Cutie Pie in regards to her statement. There was a great heaviness weighing all of them down as they realized how serious the subject at hand had become. Being the first to react, Epstein sighed, and then looked at her. He placed a hand under her chin, gently turning her head so she would look him in the eyes.

"Cutie Pie what's going on at home? You can be honest with us."

"Juan I don't think it's really anyone's business but mine." She looked away with a small sigh before standing up. "Thanks for letting me join you guys for lunch. And for making me a Sweathog for the day. But I can't sit here talking about my personal life with you guys." She stepped away from the table. "See you around school."

When she started to walk away, Epstein got up and stopped her. "Hey you don't gotta leave. C'mere." He led her back over to the table and they both sat back down. "We didn't mean for things to get so personal. You don't gotta talk 'bout it if you don't want. But know that you can always talk to us if you change your mind."

Cutie Pie sighed. "Thanks Juan." She looked at everyone sincerely. "I appreciate you guys trying to look out for me, but you can't help me with this."

"We didn't think we could actually help." Vernajean replied "But we can talk. And listen. I mean we've all got some sort of personal issues in our lives so we might be able to understand."

"Alright well think you could understand what I live with?" Cutie Pie glanced away, starting to feel tears form. "You know what it's like never knowing when you're going to get hit, or kicked, or shoved around?" They looked at her silently stunned. "You really want to know how I hurt my ankle and got these bruises this morning?" She turned her eyes back to them seriously. "It was from when I fell down the stairs… after my father pushed me."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

It was nearing the end of the lunch hour and Gabe was enjoying the last moments of quiet he had before the next class. He had spent this precious time eating his lunch while grading disappointing homework assignments. Just as he thought to himself things were going a little too smoothly for him, the entrance of six familiar students interrupted him. He looked up at all of them and saw that they stood in a row in front of his desk.

"So what is this?" Gabe asked, cracking a smile. "Some sort of chorus line?" He caught their somber expressions. "You kids can't dance looking so down like that. So what's going on?"

"Mr. Kotter," Vinnie said, speaking for the group "we have a problem. Well it ain't _our _problem. It's somebody else's problem. See we all felt bad about it."

"And you've decided to make it your problem." Gabe nodded his head and stood up. "And not only that but you've decided to bring the problem to me to solve for you."

Epstein pointed at him with a small smile. "Yeah, yeah something like that." His smile faded as he looked at the other students.

Vernajean stepped forward. "Mr. Kotter we were talking to Cutie Pie at lunch. And she was telling us about some pretty heavy stuff going on at home."

"We didn't mean to make it our business." Rosalie added "But she started telling us all about what she's been going through. And we felt so bad for her."

Gabe came out from behind his desk and sat on the edge of it. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his students, preparing himself for whatever issue they were going to tell to him.

"Ok so what is this problem plaguing Cutie Pie, that may not be any of our business?" Gabe asked

"We didn't even mean to make her bring it up." said Horshack cutting the awkward tention. "It was accidental. We wouldn't have known about none of it if I wasn't under the table to notice the bruises on her leg."

"Mr. Kah-tare you know how we talk about our home lives and how rough things can be for us? Especially with how our folks can be with us when they're mad."

"Yes I believe there have been mentions of getting hit and having the occasional piece of furniture thrown. What's that have to do with Cutie Pie?"

"Well, most of what we say about that stuff is talk, y'know?" Epstein started "But it turns out, it ain't just talk for Cutie Pie."

"She was tellin' us that her father is a pretty violent guy. Not just towards her, but with her mother too. It's been going on for a while without anyone knowing 'bout it." Vinnie added.

Gabe sighed, taking in what was said to him. He knew right then that this subject was a matter better for them to leave alone. That was what his head was telling him. However, his heart was telling him something different. He was not sure which one was telling him to ask the next question.

"So what made you guys bring this issue to me?"

This time Epstein was first to speak up. "You've let us all know that we can come to you any time we have a problem. And right from the start you have proven to be the only teacher around who we consider a friend." He paused. "But don't let nobody know about that." To this remark, Gabe grinned, nearly breaking into a laugh.

"Yeah." Vinnie said. "And we know Cutie Pie ain't one of your students, Mr. Kotter, but she's one of our friends, and she has a problem."

"An' since we don't think she'll come to you on her own, we thought you should go to her instead." Freddie added

"You guys want me to talk to Cutie Pie about her problem?"

"You're just so good at it, Mr. Kotter." Rosalie said

"Yeah just look at how often you've helped us." Vernajean added with a slight grin.

The teacher could not help grinning to himself as he looked at his students. Again, his previous conflict inside of him came at play. Even though he did not want to disappoint his students, he knew there most likely was nothing he could really do in this situation.

"This is a pretty bad situation she's in. I would like to be able to help her out of it. But I wouldn't even know where to begin if I did decide to help her. I don't think there's anything I really can do about it." The look of disappointment fell on each student's face. Trying not to fall for this, he kept going with his point. "It's really not any of our business any way. This is something for her and her family to deal with on their own."

When everyone else remained silent, Horshack threw himself to the floor, and wrapped himself around Gabe's legs.

"Please Mr. Kotter!" he cried. "You've got to help her! You're the only one who can!" He looked up at him. "If you don't who will?"

Gabe looked down at him. "Arnold, if I promise to talk to her then will you stop crying on my leg? I kind of would like to use it in case I need to walk somewhere."

Horshack looked up at him, no trace of tears. "You really mean it, Mr. Kotter?"

"Yes. Now let go of my leg, Arnold."

Backing away from Gabe, Horshack stood and joined his friends. The group of students then all let out a cheer for their teacher. Vinnie stepped forward and shook Gabe's hand.

"Hey thanks, Mr. Kotter. This really means a lot to us." He walked out the door, cueing the others to follow.

"Yeah," said Epstein, patting Gabe on the shoulder. "We knew you wouldn't let us down." He stepped into the hallway.

Freddie stepped forward with Vernajean close in tow. "Hey, Mr. Kah-tare, we know if anyone can figure out how to help her, it's you."

"Yeah, we know you got this handled already." Vernajean added before they left the room.

"And you just might like Cutie Pie." said Rosalie, walking to the door. "She's a real sweet girl. But she still fits in with the Sweathogs."

When Rosalie was in the hallway with the others, Horshack walked over to Gabe. He looked at him with a smile before wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. Then, pulling out of the hug, he left the room. Gabe was left standing there by the door, unsure of what just took place.

"There's only one problem." He said to the empty room. "What am I supposed to say to her? I don't even know her." He shook his head and then sat down at his desk to await the end of the lunch hour.

...

Two class periods later, Gabe took a short break to step into the hallway in front of his classroom. As he did this, he saw, not at all to his surprise, his four favorite male students standing around their lockers. Craving a moment of usual repartee of wisecracks and lighthearted ranking, Gabe walked over to the students. They got through the first few exchanged ranks when they were interrupted. The four boys turned their attention toward the approaching girl. Vinnie slapped Gabe on the chest and then motioned toward the girl.

"Check 'er out Mr. Kotter. That's her."

"Her, who?"

"Cutie Pie." Vinnie grinned, waving her over to them. "Hey was I right? Ain't she just like her nickname or what?"

Although grinning over Vinnie's ungrammatical question, Gabe had no time to really respond before Cutie Pie reached the group. She looked at all four boys with a dimpled smile while they greeted her with flirtatious comments and whistles. As she walked past the boys to the lockers, she glanced over at the teacher. Gabe walked over to the group of students and broke them apart, putting an end to the flirting. Although complaining, the boys walked away, leaving them alone.

A little startled, Cutie Pie looked up at the teacher before reaching into her locker. "Oh hi, um, Mr. Kotter is it?" Her voice came out sweetly, yet, slightly shy.

Gabe nodded "That's right. We have not been formerly introduced. See I'm trying to get to know students outside of my class. Sort of my way of connecting with the whole school."

"Ok." She said, nodding. "Well everybody knows me as Cutie Pie. Nice to officially meet you, Mr. Kotter. I've heard a lot of good things about you from other students." She smiled "Actually I wish I were in your class. But unfortunately I don't have the grades."

"Don't have the grades?" he repeated, nearly laughing

"Yeah those pesky B's and the occasional A keep getting in the way." She did laugh. "Well Mr. Kotter I don't gather you came over here just to make small talk."

"Ah yes!" he laughed. "You caught on! How smart of you!"

She grinned "Of course! I'm not one of your students, after all."

"Which sort of brings me to what I wanted to discuss with you. I've been trying hard to get my students to improve their grades. See, I feel they're smart enough kids and could do much better if they'd only apply themselves. So here's the idea I came up with to try to get them to do better. If they came together in after school study groups with their peers from other classes helping them out, they'd be able to do better."

"So you came to me?" Cutie Pie pulled a book out of her locker. "Why?"

"You're friends with some of my students and I thought you'd be able to encourage them to join the study group with you."

"Alright, sounds good. When is this going to start?"

"Can you stay after school?"

"I suppose I could."

"Great. Well then after school, come meet me and my students in the teacher's lounge."

"Ok I will." The bell rang, interrupting them. "Well I better go. Nice talking to you Mr. Kotter!" she hurried down the hallway to her class.

As he watched her and the other students head for their classes, he slouched his shoulders and sighed. He hated lying to her but he felt as though it was the best way he could get her to meet with him without any suspicion. Keeping his promises to his students was important to him but he did not think he would have to stoop to something like this in order to keep it.

"Why do I always get involved?" Sighing again, he entered his classroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

At the final bell, students all throughout the school filed out of their classrooms, elated to be able to head home for the day. Lockers slammed and cheering voices rang through the hallways as the students started leaving. A few stragglers remained in the hallways, slowly making their way to various after school activities. Cutie Pie, being one of these stragglers, stopped by her locker for a moment before heading down to the teacher's lounge.

When she got there, Gabe stood by the door waiting for her. He opened the door, stepping aside for her to enter the room first. She walked over to the round table and sat her book bag on top of it. Sitting down, she looked at the teacher, suddenly getting a nervous feeling in her stomach.

"So… Mr. Kotter… where are the other students?"

He shook his head "They're not coming." He walked over to the small couch and sat down. "Come here, I need to talk to you."

Looking at him in disbelief, she stood up ready to grab her bag. "Mr. Kotter, what's going on?"

"Look, Cutie Pie," He paused with a slight grimace. "Hold on. I don't feel right calling you Cutie Pie. Is there some other name I could call you?"

"You can call me Q if ya want."

He nodded. "Q. That works I guess."

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

He waved her over to the couch, causing her to approach him nervously. "First of all, I'm really sorry that I lied to you earlier. But I had to come up with a believable reason to get you to come talk to me in private."

"About… what?" She sat down on the couch, leaving plenty of space between her and the teacher.

"Q relax." He snickered "It's ok. I didn't mean to worry you like that."

She let out a sigh and relaxed her shoulders as she inched a little closer to him. "You have to understand, Mr. Kotter, I'm not used to situations like this… that don't end badly."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He paused, catching her expression. "Q, I found out about your home life, how rough it is for you. I heard that your father is violent towards you and your mother."

Her eyes widened "Who told you that?"

Right then, a sneeze was heard from the other side of the closed door. Gabe stood up, motioned for her to stay seated, and walked over to the door. Placing his hand on the knob, he opened the door to four male students falling into the room. Quickly coming to their feet, they smiled bashfully towards their teacher and fellow student.

"Hi Mr. Kotter." Vinnie spoke through his dimples. "We were in the neighborhood and thought we'd drop in."

Gabe nodded, un-amused. "Yes, Vinnie, I see that. What are you all doing here?"

"Well Mr. Kotter," Epstein replied. "We just wanted to see how things were going here with Cutie Pie, y'know?"

"Yeah we wanted to be sure everything went smoooothly." Freddie smiled slickly at the end of his statement.

"How could you guys tell him about this?" Cutie Pie asked, upset. "You had no business telling him! Thanks a lot guys!" She got up, grabbed her book bag and stormed out of the room.

"I may not be an expert but," Horshack said, looking towards the door."It doesn't look like things went too smooth."

Then, with Vinnie leading the way, the boys left the room to catch up with Cutie Pie. Vinnie reached her first, stopping her in her place.

"Hey." He said, putting an arm around her. "Don't go. Listen, Cutie Pie, we're sorry about this. We just care about ya 'cause you're our friend."

"Yeah we didn't mean no harm. We just wanted to help." Added Epstein

"You wanted to help me, so you sent me to talk to your teacher?"

Gabe stood in the doorway, looking at all the students seriously. "Actually, they wanted to help so they got _me _to talk to _you."_

"Alright." She nodded, speaking with a tone of irritation. "Well whatever. Either way, you all decided to butt in a problem neither of you could possibly understand."

Gabe stepped into the hallway and went over to the students. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he pulled Cutie Pie away from the boys.

"You're right. We don't understand this situation you're in. But we honestly do want to help. Sure, we have no idear how to really help or even if we really could."

"Then what's the point of talking to me about it?"

There was silence amongst the group for a moment. Epstein looked at Gabe, with a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"She got you there, Kotter."

Waving off Epstein's comment, Gabe looked at Cutie Pie. "The point I would like to make is, Q you don't have anything to be ashamed of, here." He paused long enough to see her confused look. "I mean, you have plenty of friends here in school that you can turn to. I'm also here any time you feel you need to talk to somebody. And if there is ever anything beyond that, we could help you with, don't hesitate to ask."

Cutie Pie looked down for a second, taking in what was said to her. Then, as she lifted her head, she looked at them with a soft smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Kotter. That actually means a lot to me."

"I meant it." Gabe grinned. "Any time you need to talk, I'm here for you."

"I'll consider it."

"Now that this is settled," Gabe started, looking at all the students. "I think it's time for all of you to go home."

"Right Mr. Kah-tare." Freddie grinned, taking Cutie Pie by the arm. "We'll just escort Miss Cutie Pie home."

She looked at him and smiled. "Sure you will. Then you'll face my father and his temper. His violent temper that comes with a short fuse."

He pulled away from her, holding his hands up in front of him. "On second thought, you can find yo' own way home, right? I mean I ain't facing nobody's angry daddy. 'Specially when I ain't done nothin' wrong."

"C'mon Washington," Vinnie's grin was full of dimples. "Forget about that. Let's just go to Coney Island and hang out on the boardwalk." He put an arm around Horshack. "Maybe we can scam some chicks into going out with Horshack."

Horshack responded with a smile and his infamous laugh. As the students started to walk down the hallway, Gabe shook his head in amusement before heading back into the teacher's lounge. Cutie Pie slipped behind the boys, quietly holding her head down as she clutched her book bag close to her chest. Looking back, Epstein caught this, and stopped in his tracks. He hesitated, starting to follow the other boys again, before walking over to Cutie Pie. Then, while walking along side her, he gently lifted her chin so she would look at him.

"Hey, honey, what's the matter?"

"Oh hi, Juan." She let out a small sigh, briefly glancing up towards the ceiling. "I was just trying to think of what I'll say once I get home. You know, to explain why I'm late. Something that will get my dad the least mad at me."

Epstein nodded in understanding. "I gotcha." He reached into his pocket. "Hey listen, I think I may have a note for that." He pulled out a folded piece of paper, offering it to her. "You can use it if you want."

She snickered as she waved the note away in decline. "No thanks, Juan. You keep your note." She watched him slip the note back into his pocket. "But listen, I really want to thank you for this morning. You know, for carrying me to class like that." She smiled with her eyes brightening. "It was the sweetest thing any guy has ever done for me."

"Hey." He grinned "Anything for a cute girl." To this statement, she blushed, causing him to smile even more.

"Hey Epstein!" Vinnie's voice rang out from further down the hall. "Come on, we're gonna take Horshack to the boardwalk! Maybe we'll push him off the pier this time!"

"Hang on Barbarino! I'm a little busy here."

"Alright. You'll catch up with us, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Later, later!" He waved him ahead of them. Waiting until the others were out of sight, he then turned to Cutie Pie. "Listen, Cutie Pie, if you're worried about going home tonight, I could suggest a place for you to go and hang out for a while. Meet lots of nice people who will take great care of you and will even have your back once you do go home."

"That's nice of you, Juan." She said, nodding. "Where is this place?"

"My house." He caught her uncertain glance. "Now before you say anything about me just trying to take advantage of you and just wanting to get you alone somewhere, put that out of your head. I'm really lookin' out for ya here."

"Oh you are?" She asked a little skeptically.

"You can trust me. I won't get you into trouble or nothin'. Just hang with my family for a while. I'll make my brothers back off and not act as much like animals." He said with a smile. "Hey maybe you could spend time with my sisters, getting to know them. I think you'll like them. And you know what? I think my brother Pedro ain't gonna be home tonight so you could have his share at dinner."

"That actually sounds… kinda nice."

"Yeah so, what do ya say? Hey I could call my ma and let her know I'm bringing home a friend."

She laughed, showing off a nearly perfect smile. "You're real sweet, Juan. Let's just keep walking a little bit."

"Whatever you want, honey. I ain't gotta go home for a while anyway."

She smiled, looking him in the eyes, before walking a little ahead of him. Epstein stood back a little to watch the swing in her stride for a few seconds before catching up with her again. As they continued down the hall, walking side-by-side, he slipped her book bag from her arms and slung it over his shoulder. Then, when they reached the exit, he held it open for her. After stepping outside, she stopped and turned back to him, catching him in the eyes.

"You know, Juan. The past few years I've had such a different image of you in my head. I always thought of you as this wild animal with little to no social skills beyond fighting or wise cracks. But after today I'll think of you differently."

"Yeah, how's that?"

"A big sweetheart." She smiled and then turned away from him.

He grinned, taking a moment to watch her leave. Then, closing the door behind, he started walking to catch up with her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Horshack appeared greatly engulfed by something that hung on the inside of his locker. As he focused on, what turned out to be the latest magazine centerfold, he completely ignored everything else around him. Epstein smirked, while watching Horshack so enthralled by the image in front of him. Looking towards Freddie and Vinnie, he quietly motioned towards Horshack. Then, still with his smirk, he strolled over to the lockers. Once he stood next to Horshack's locker, clearly not gaining the other boy's attention, he slammed the locker closed. As Horshack jumped back, startled, Epstein and the other two boys started laughing.

As they laughed at Horshack's expense, two other boys from class strolled over to them. While inquiring what had caused the laughter, the new boys looked over at Epstein with the same knowing smirk on their faces. Everyone else noticed this shared expression right away, drawing all attention from the boys to Epstein.

In confusion, Epstein looked behind him, trying to see what they could have been looking at. He then looked back at the other boys just as puzzled. "What? What's going on?"

"Hey, Epstein." One of the smirking boys said. "We heard you had a wild time with a girl in your room after school. All night long."

"Yeah," The other boy smirked as he slapped Epstein on the arm. "Tell us, Juan, who was it?"

Stepping in before Epstein could reply, Vinnie took charge of the conversation. "What's going on, Epstein? You mean you had a girl at your house all last night and you ain't bragged about it, yet? I thought we was friends!"

"We are, we are, Vinnie."

"So why didn't you tell us if you had a girl in your bed with you all night? You always tell us when you score with chicks!" Vinnie finished with a smile. "Hey, no wonder you never showed up at Coney Island with us. C'mon, Juan, give us the juicy details."

"There ain't no juicy details to tell 'cause I ain't hand nobody in my bed last night. If I did I'd tell ya."

One of the other boys grinned slyly while folding his arms coolly, across his chest. "Well that ain't the story goin' 'round the locker room today. Word has it that, not only did this chick follow you home from school yesterday, she followed you straight into your bedroom where she stayed all night."

The second guy chimed in with the same grin. "And she was able to do that because of no interruptions since none of your family was home."

All the other boys chorused with hoots and rambunctious calls. While this occurred, Epstein stood back, clearly un-amused. He quickly put an end to this, holding a serious, almost upset tone to him.

"Alright, alright! Yeah, ok, a girl _did _come home with me last night. But it ain't like what you think."

Freddie smiled "You mean you and some girl from school had yo' whole house to yo'selves last night and you ain't done nothin' with her?" He finished with a laugh. "I _might _believe that it you was Horshack."

"Hey!" Epstein exclaimed, growing more upset. "I said it ain't like that!" He looked down the hall and saw Cutie Pie approach them. As she came near, giving him a small smile, he motioned for the others to be quiet.

Cutie Pie walked past all the boys with them watching every move she made. She stopped by her locker before turning back to look at Epstein. Then, after putting her books into the locker and closing the door, she walked over to Epstein.

"By the way, Juan thanks for last night." She kissed him on the cheek.

This was immediately followed by hoots and hollers that were louder and raunchier than the previous ones. Cutie Pie, stunned, stood and looked at the boys wide-eyed. She then timidly turned her attention to Epstein. Stepping forward, Epstein put an end to the taunts.

"Hey, hey, hey! Knock it off! All of you! I already said it ain't like that!"

Cutie Pie looked at Epstein, narrowing her eyes in offence. "Like _what, _Juan? What's going on here?"

He looked at her then back at the other boys. "Yeah she was at my house last night." He looked mainly at his friends. "But we weren't alone at all. You should know, in my house, ain't nobody ever been alone. Not even in the bathroom. Cutie Pie spent the entire night hangin' with my sisters doing girl stuff. I spent the whole night keepin' my brothers away from her. After knowing what she's been going through at home, I thought it'd be nice for her to spend some time at a home, surrounded by people who are actually nice to each other and take care of one another."

Taking in Epstein's words, Vinnie nodded his head. "Alright, Juan. Don't get upset. We was just jivin' you. We didn't know what you was doin' last night."

"Hey if you let us know you was helpin' Cutie Pie out, we would have understood." Freddie added.

"Yeah." Horshack chimed in. "We're all tryin' to help her. But none of us thought to have her at any of our houses like that."

"Yeah, well," Epstein shrugged. "I just did what I thought she needed." He looked at her with a subtle grin as he finished.

"Thanks, again, Juan. I really appreciate it."

"C'mon, Cutie Pie. I'll walk you to your class." He held out an arm, offering it to her.

Cutie Pie took Epstein's arm with a smile. Before they walked away, Epstein nodded his head with a small smirk towards the other boys. While watching the two of them walk down the hall together, the other boys shared an impressed feeling towards their friend. The bell rang, turning the remaining boys to the classroom. As they did this, they faced their equally impressed teacher grinning back at them from the doorway.

"Mr. Kah-tare, how long have you been standing there?"

Gabe grinned "Long enough to notice that you boys should learn something from Epstein thee. Who knew that one of _my _students could be such a gentleman like that?" His smile grew.

"Yeah, especially Epstein." Horshack replied, entering a small laugh.

"I've known Epstein a long time, Mr. Kotter." Vinnie looked down the hall where the other two students went. "And I never knew he had it in him. Not like that anyway."

Gabe pointed in the same direction. "Just think, not only was he caring enough to invite her home with him to spend time with his family, and, according to him, did not lay a single finger on her, but he made sure that none of his brothers did either."

"And you bought that, Mr. Kotter?"

"Vinnie, you of all people would know that, just like any other time with any other girl, Epstein would be bragging all about his big score, first thing in the morning."

Vinnie nodded "Yeah he would."

"But he didn't do it. Not only that, but he _defended _her honor when you all were saying those things about them being together. _That's _why I believed what he said."

"Very impressive Mr. Kotter." Horshack slowly nodded his head as he spoke.

"Ok, ok, you're right and we're wrong." Freddie replied. "We should have believed him."

Gabe nodded with a grin. "That's right, Now get to class."

Without arguments, all the boys entered the classroom. Gabe hesitated before entering the room, and looked down the hallway.

"Hey Epstein! When you get to class, forget the note!" He chuckled. "I know your mother's not in that classroom to sign her name to it this time!" Shaking his head, he then turned and entered the room.

...

Epstein entered the classroom with a prideful grin on his face. As he strolled over to his desk he then pushed another desk in front of it. Then, sitting down, he rested his legs on the chair connected to the second desk. Even though he had eyes from all around the room on him, he did not pay attention to any of it. Verajean leaned forward, slyly grinning and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Now, Juan," She said through her grin. "What's the scoop on you and Cutie Pie?"

"What scoop? I already explained that. My whole family was there so nothing happened. Besides I just asked her to come over as a friend and nothing more."

"No." She grinned, with a slight shake of the head. "I meant just now as you walked her to class."

"I walked her to class. What's the big deal?"

Rosalie, who sat next to Vernajean, smiled as she too leaned closer to Epstein. "Let's see…" She listed things on her fingers as she mentioned them. "First you carried her down the hall when she was hurt, you're the one who got her to talk to us about her problems, it was actually _your _idea to talk to Mr. Kotter about it… Then last night you brought her home with you, you defended her honor in front of the other guys, and now you walked her to her class."

"So? What's your point?"

Vernajean looked at Rosalie, and the two of them smiled with a small laugh. Then, looking at Epstein, Vernajean placed a hand on his shoulder, still smiling.

"Sounds like Juan Epstein has a bit of a crush on Cutie Pie."

"A crush? Aw come on! She's just a friend, a friend y'know?"

Rosalie laughed. "Epstein it's written all over your face. You can't deny it; you like her."

Epstein looked away, trying not to blush. The rest of the class erupted in collective laughter and taunts. This immediately was brought to an end as Epstein stood up to provide some of his typical threats. Gabe had also ended the taunts and made Epstein sit back down. It did not take long after that for the class to settle down and get their minds off the subject of whether or not Epstein had feelings for a certain Miss Cutie Pie.

...

The class had ended without any major or even minor incidents. Nobody had even mentioned anything else about the hot topic of the class session. The students filled out of Gabe's class, entering the hallways to loiter before their next class. Gathering around the lockers, the small group of straggling students found themselves in a conversation with their teacher. The conversation, as usual, consisted mainly of exchanged barbs with one minor Marx Brother's routine, but it was a conversation nonetheless.

Part way through one of Gabe's impressions, their attention turned away, as Cutie Pie approached them with a smile. She tossed her Farrah-flipped locks over her shoulder as she neared the group. All talking and kidding around stopped as soon as she stood near the other students. One of the other girls pushed Epstein closer to Cutie Pie, and Vinnie slapped him on the back. At first, a look of surprised confusion washed over him before he relaxed and accepted his new spot next to the girl.

"Hey guys. Hi Mr. Kotter." She waved at the teacher. "I just wanted to stop by to say, well, thank you. For everything." She turned to Epstein with a small grin. "Especially you, Juan. That was very sweet of you. I mean, even if it was just one night, you allowed me to have a normal family."

"You're welcome, honey. And y'know, any time at all you feel you need an escape, you're more than welcome to come over. I'm sure ma won't mind setting out an extra plate at dinner." He finished with a grin.

"Again, thanks, Juan. Oh and that reminds me, tell your sister I said thanks for letting me borrow that Elvis Costello record."

He smiled with a small nod of his head. "Will do. I'll let her know."

Cutie Pie then looked at Gabe with a small grin. "Oh, Mr. Kotter… Even though it wasn't your idea, I still appreciate the fact that you tried talking to me about… everything. It's really nice to know that there's so many people around here who care enough about me and my situation."

"Certainly." Gabe replied, sincerely "Um, Q, I really did mean what I said to you. I know none of us can truly help, other than provide our support. Like I said, any time at all you feel you need to talk to somebody we're always here for you." He motioned towards his classroom. "My door's always open."

"I'll be sure to stop by whenever I need it." She looked at the other students. "Probably a lot more often, since I have such great friends in this class." She snickered before continuing. "Never thought I'd say something like this, but coming to school seems actually worthwhile because of you Sweathogs."

The other students replied by showing their gratitude towards her. However, much to everyone's disappointment, the next class's starting bell rang. Then, after a brief goodbye, the group dispersed, taking to their separate ways down the hall. Cutie Pie, who was last to leave the area, was stopped by Gabe before she could go anywhere. She turned to the teacher to question this and she saw a look of confused curiosity written on his face.

"Something wrong, Mr. Kotter?"

"Q… sorry to make you late but, there's something that I've been wondering ever since my students first mentioned you in my class."

She nodded her head with a sure understanding. "It's my name isn't it?"

"Yes. If you don't mind me asking… how did you get the name Cutie Pie any way?"

Cutie Pie looked around the hallway to make sure no other students were in the area to overhear their conversation. "Ok Mr. Kotter, you're the only one who's going to get to hear this story, so that means, don't tell anyone." She snickered, although she was serious.

"Alright Q." He grinned, holding his hand up in a promise. "Go ahead. How did you get your nickname?"

"Actually, Mr. Kotter, my nickname is sort of a play on my last name. See my real name is Susie Quentenpyre."

The teacher entered his Groucho impression "With a name like that, no wonder you go by a nickname."

She laughed. "Yeah and at my old school people started calling me Susie Q, because of the CCR song. It got so annoying having everyone call me Susie Q all the time. People would even sing the song to me as they passed me in the hallways. Every single day, Mr. Kotter, I'd have to hear that! Do you have any idea how painfully annoying that became?"

"I can only imagine."

"So when I found out my family was moving here I decided, in order to escape that nickname, I should come up with a new one before coming to the new school."

"Wait. You made up your own nickname?"

"Yeah. I had to otherwise the name Susie Q would have followed me here. So anyway, while I was thinking of a new nickname for myself I realized something. If you remove the letters U E N and R from my last name, what do you have left? Q T PY. So naturally, that became Cutie Pie. And there you go."

"There you go."Gabe laughed.

Cutie Pie laughed as well before heading down the hallway. "Catch you later, Mr. Kotter!"

Gabe could not help laughing to himself over the student as she left. Then, with a smile on his face, and a shake of his head, he walked back to his classroom. By his experience with his students, he knew things with Cutie Pie were far from over for him and the Sweathogs. He knew, though, this was not necessarily a bad thing. After dealing with her personal issues during this particular week, he felt glad to know Cutie Pie.


End file.
